“The Labor/ACT Greens’ 2012 parliamentary agreement has a goal to have the Australia Forum at an ‘investment ready’ stage by 2016. Achieving this goal earlier would be very welcome from the Business Event industry perspective” Ms Hendry went on to say. “The more quickly we can progress this project the sooner we will see the economic benefits to the city”.

The research by Ernst and Young in Australian Forum Scoping Study 2011 provides evidence that strongly supports the need for this facility and clearly indicates the economic value this will provide to the community and the same research indicates that doing nothing is not an option for Canberra.

Earlier this year, over 50 peak industry bodies, national institutions and research and learning institutions named this project as the number one priority in Canberra for investment by the ACT and Commonwealth Governments. Combined these groups represent over half of the employment base in the ACT.

“We cannot sit on our hands any longer and watch other cities develop and improve their facilities and potentially miss our opportunity of capitalising on this important market” she said, “it is now time to make sufficient capital funds available to progress the ‘Business Case Phase’ and the ‘Procurement Phase’ as this will ensure we can begin to prepare for such a facility.

The Bureau’s 2014-2015 pre-budget submission to the ACT Government provides an Ernst and Young document commissioned by the Canberra Convention Bureau and the Canberra Business Council outlining the process and level of investment required to make this project a reality.